COVID-19 updates: Classes in Chicago canceled for 4th day

Chicago Public Schools has been in talks with teachers over COVID-19 safety.

ByMary Kekatos, Nadine El-Bawab, Ayushi Agarwal, Ivan Pereira, Morgan Winsor, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: January 10, 2022, 12:18 AM EST

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 837,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 62.5% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jan 04, 2022, 10:20 AM EST

Sen. Rob Portman tests positive for COVID

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, tested positive for COVID-19 last night, according to a press release. 

Portman took an at-home COVID test which came back positive. The senator said he is asymptomatic and feels fine.

Sen. Rob Portman at the U.S. Capitol Building, Dec. 13, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, FILE

"I have been in contact with the Attending Physician and my personal doctor. I am following their medical advice and following CDC guidelines and isolating for the recommended five days," Portman said in the statement.

He will be working remotely this week, but will not be able to be in Washington, D.C., for votes.

Jan 04, 2022, 9:54 AM EST

Sweden's King and Queen test positive for COVID-19

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia tested positive for COVID-19 last night, according to a palace statement. 

Both are fully vaccinated and have received a third booster shot.

Queen Silvia of Sweden and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden arrive for the Nobel Prize Awards ceremony, Dec. 10, 2021, in Stockholm, Sweden.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images, FILE

The king and queen said they have mild symptoms and are feeling well, in the statement.

They are isolating at home and contact tracing is ongoing.

Jan 04, 2022, 6:36 AM EST

US reports 1 million daily COVID cases after holiday backlog

More than 1 million new COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University. 

The 1,082,549 new infections were about double last week's record daily cases, according to the university's data. This is likely due to a reporting backlog of cases from holiday testing.

People line up for a COVID-19 test at a hospital in the Bronx borough of New York City, Jan. 3, 2022.
Carlo Allegri/Reuters

The US recorded 1,688 deaths related to COVID-19 on Monday, below the record high of 4,442, set on Jan. 20, 2021, according to the university's data.

Jan 04, 2022, 6:32 AM EST

US reports record 325,000 new pediatric COVID infections last week

A record 325,000 children tested positive for COVID-19 last week amid the nation's most significant COVID-19 infection surge yet, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

Signage outside Frederick Wilson Benteen Elementary School encourages parents to seek COVID-19 testing as students go remote for a week to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as cases of the Omicron variant continue to surge in Atlanta, Ga., Jan. 3, 2022.
Alyssa Pointer/Reuters

Children accounted for about 17.4% of last week's reported COVID-19 cases, down from previous weeks, when children accounted for more than a quarter of all new cases. 

A total of nearly 7.9 million children have tested positive for the virus, since the onset of the pandemic.

ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

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